


In the Heat of the Flame

by queenietheband



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Background Demogorgon (Stranger Things), Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Future Fic, Gay Will Byers, Gen, Heavy Angst, M/M, Mike Wheeler Needs a Hug, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 03, Sad, Siblings Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers & Mike Wheeler Fight, Will Byers Has Shadow Monster | Mind Flayer Powers, Will Byers Is Not Okay, Will Byers Needs a Hug, Will is a Mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:35:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23218600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenietheband/pseuds/queenietheband
Summary: “Tell me how I can fix this. We all have to be on the same team for us to win. We have to end this once and for all.”Will fixed his steely and cold gaze on Mike, his eyes searching as if they were going through his entire soul. Mike flinched.Will grimaced. “The past can’t be changed, not that fast.”Angsty Byler One shot
Relationships: Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 6
Kudos: 68





	In the Heat of the Flame

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick future au I wrote because I'm in quarantine and miss byler being angsty
> 
> ALso lowkey wish they make Will a badass who doesn't care about Mike anymore next season but we shall see

"Didn't think it would take this long for you to find me."

Mike snapped his head up in the direction of the dark, unforgiving voice and immediately his shoulders tensed with worry. He couldn't see his face, all he could make out in the blackened corner of the back porch was the single flame from the lighter as the other man lit a cigarette. "I didn't know you would be this hard to find," Mike muttered, bristling at the quick and unamused laugh that bubbled out of the now stranger's mouth. Slowly, almost like a monster emerging from its cave, the man stepped out of the shadows and stood a few feet away from Mike. Will was much taller than when he had last come to town and even the way he stood made him appear like he demanded your attention. One of his hands was shoved in the pocket of a worn out denim jacket that Mike had never seen before and the other hand was lazily rolling a cigarette between two of his fingers. Scuffing his sneaker against the patio deck, he held out the cigarette for Mike to take a drag. 

"What the fuck, Will. You know I don't do that." Will scoffed and took his own drag, before blowing the smoke over his shoulder, the cloud of nicotine still managing to make its way over to Mike. 

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to make sure nothing else had changed since I had last spoken to you." He stared Mike down and for the first time since he had heard the news of the Mind Flayer's return, the news of their world flipping back upside down, Mike actually felt _scared_. Will seemed to realize this too and it was as if Mike's fear made him stronger, more daring. "I didn't think El and I would have to come back here for this shit. We both figured you would be the one to have everything under your control like always." 

Mike dared to roll his eyes. "That wasn't the case then and it isn't the case now and you know it."

Will was staring him down, waiting for Mike to take the bait. "Oh yeah, how could I forget?" He pretended to think, his hand scratching his short, messy hair. "It was...El who you needed the most right? So why am _I_ back here?" The two former best friends were locked in an intense eye contact, neither wanting to break in fear of being the first one to crack. 

Mike broke first. 

"You're here because we need you, I...I need you, Will." The dark look that passed over Will's face as he turned to face the backyard made Mike's heart constrict. 

Will banged his foot against the fence and shakily lifted the cigarette to his mouth, taking a long drag. "If you need me, why is this the first time I've seen you in years? Why am I seeing you now, right before we're going to die, Michael?" Mike didn't have an answer for him. He hadn't meant for it to happen. After the Byers had moved, taking El with them, Mike would visit them regularly. He'd go every weekend, spending time with El during the day and spending the night on Will's bedroom floor. Once El and him had broken up, though, Mike just…never went back. 

Will seemed to be reliving those memories too. 

"I should have known you only came to visit because of El. That you were using me as an excuse to be at my house on weekends. I was such a naive, hopeless kid." Mike sighed and scrubbed his hands across his weary face. "Will, you don't know how much I wish I could take back in my life. How much I wish I could fix us." 

"Yeah, well, can't go back in time, can you? We can only live with the mistakes we made in the past.” Will studied his jacket sleeve, a jagged tear that seemed to hold a much deeper meaning in the crook of his elbow. Mike didn’t know how to respond. The guilt of knowing how much he had hurt his once best friend was enough to throw him into a downhill spiral, especially after El had stormed into the house when she first arrived and immediately pushed Mike against the wall to yell at him. 

“Will, please,” Mike took a step towards him cautiously, “Tell me how I can fix this. We all have to be on the same team for us to win. We have to end this once and for all.”

Will fixed his steely and cold gaze on Mike, his eyes searching as if they were going through his entire soul. Mike flinched and Will grimaced. “The past can’t be changed, not that fast.” He glanced back through the closed window and Mike followed, the two surveying the scene of their old friend group huddled around a map, arguing yet somehow moving in a rhythm. Mike had missed that. He had missed all of them. “If it means protecting everyone else, I’ll put my anger aside,” Will chucked his stub of a cigarette to the ground, his foot lightly pressing on it, “I’d rather El be safe and alive than anything else.” Will moved completely out of the shadows, and pushed past him to get back into the house. As the back door opened and voices filled the outside breeze, Mike almost missed the cold words that felt like a punch in the face.

“I can’t say the same for you.”

The door slammed closed with a final push of laughter peeling out, along with all the energy wrapped up in Mike’s tired body. Rubbing his hands across his heartbroken face, he reached for the door handle and prepared himself to feel like an enemy in his home once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope everyone is safe, healthy and happy!


End file.
